Blast Traumatic Brain Injury as a Cause of Pituitary Dysfunction

A study in soldiers demonstrates anterior pituitary dysfunction with cognitive and emotional impairment after blast traumatic brain injury.

Hypopituitarism caused by traumatic brain injury (TBI) was first reported in 1918, only 4 years after the description of hypopituitarism. Blast traumatic brain injury (bTBI) is seen often after the use of improvised explosive devices like those used in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other countries involved in military conflict. Pituitary dysfunction with associated cognitive, psychological, and metabolic impairment is recognized frequently after TBI, but the prevalence after bTBI is unknown.

In this study, researchers recruited 19 military bTBI patients from the Academic Department of Military Emergency Medicine trauma database (Birmingham, U.K.). These patients, along with 39 civilian controls with moderate-to-severe nonblast TBI, underwent a full…

Reviewing Author

Jaime Toro, MD

Disclosures

Editorial BoardsMultiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders

Jaime Toro, MD

Disclosures

Editorial BoardsMultiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders

Blast Traumatic Brain Injury as a Cause of Pituitary Dysfunction

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Reviewing Author